So what exactly IS the gift?

[Chosen Enemy]

The first Slayer said to Buffy that death is her gift. But I think it's double meaning.
For starter, her deathy gift is what's GIVEN to her, I suppose, being in heaven for an eternal rest. On another hand, her death is her gift that she GIVES to the world, and Dawn, by dying she's giving a gift of saving the world.

Which one do you think the gift is: the giving of it or her recieving it? Both?

 

[zobothehobo]

I always looked at it as a gift to be given.... but if I think about it, I think it's both.

 

[msfantastico87]

Hmmmm this is difficult for me to decipher. I want to say both, but the more I think of it, the harder it is for me to believe that it's both. Let me try to explain.

If it was the first option, the gift given to her was to go to heaven, I just can't believe that. I don't want to start a debate here or anything, and I nothing about religion, but just because she rid the world of evil, doesn't mean she goes to heaven. She, just like anyone else, probably sinned. She didn't repent before she died. Know what I mean?

So with that in mind, I think it's the latter. And then I think about Faith and how technically, she's the rightful slayer, it just doesn't add up to me. Ya know?

i'm obviously torn. And then I remember it's just a tv show and none of this was planned out properly lol So i'll go with both!

 

[zobothehobo]

but I don't think the gift given to her was just heaven. it was death itself. It was over. No more worrying, no more wondering. she had that slayer death wish, and she got her wish.

 

[Fusions2]

I thought it meant that death was a gift she could give to Dawn. Buffy could die in Dawn's place so that her sister wouldn't have to die. In The Gift Buffy comes to the realisation that her and Dawns blood is more than just "Summers blood" it meant that Buffy could stop the portal without Dawn jumping and using her own blood.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I always thought that The First Slayer meant death was Buffy's gift to the world, since by dying she was saving the world from the hell dimension.

 

[TheVoid68]

My interpretation is that it wasn't a gift given to Buffy, but a gift she gives. With her death, she gives the gift of life to her sister, her friends and the entire world. That is her gift.

 

[Hale Caesar]

Buffy's Gift

So, I was thinking the other day. Buffy's gift was her life to save the world (and Dawn). However, Buffy dying didn't fix any of the problems, there was still the Hellmouth so random demons/bad guys would still have been coming to Sunnydale but Buffy wouldn't have been around to defend the earth, so things are actually worse. If Dawn had died...nothing would have changed, Buffy would have been devastated, but the world would continue to keep moving. With Buffy dead eventually there would have been a threat that the current Scoobies and Angel could not handle.

Basically, i'm asking why it made sense to keep Dawn alive when, by effect, the entire earth would have eventually been destroyed.

 

[Carrrrgh]

You don't even know how much I wanted Dawn to die here.

If you really wanna break it all down, it goes a lil something like this:

If Dawn dies:
Portal still gets closed.
Buffy doesn't need to be resurrected.
Willow doesn't tap into that dark magic and kill Warren.
The First doesn't need to kick Buffys ass for coming back to life.
Countless potentials don't need to die, or even show up for that matter.
Xander doesn't need to loose an eye.
Anya doesn't need to be sliced.
Spike doesn't need to sacrifice himself.
Buffy & Spike forever 😛

Now because she was a brat and didn't jump herself, all those bad things that happened in S6&S7...happened.

 

[zobothehobo]

As awful as it sounds, I'm with carrr here... I mean Dawn was going to jump before Buffy stopped her. She should have decided to just fall as soon as her blood opened the portal.

 

[Taake]

If Dawn dies:

Spike doesn't need to sacrifice himself.
Buffy & Spike forever 😛
.

Although as you mentioned Buffy never gets ressurrected and therefore might not get deeply depressed (obviously she'd mourn Dawn but it wouldn't quite be like returning from hell...) and thus Buffy might never have been inclined to start up a destructive relationship with Spike...

So Spuffy forever if Dawn had jumped seems very, very unlikely.

 

[zobothehobo]

Although as you mentioned Buffy never gets ressurrected and therefore might not get deeply depressed (obviously she'd mourn Dawn but it wouldn't quite be like returning from hell...) and thus Buffy might never have been inclined to start up a destructive relationship with Spike...

So Spuffy forever if Dawn had jumped seems very, very unlikely.

Ok... so she doesn't start a destructive relationship with Spike... is that the only kind of relationship she's allowed to have with him? I strongly believe that if Dawn sacrificed herself and Spike kept being the same man he was in Intervention and later, also keeping on the track he was going on with character development, they would have started a relationship that DIDN'T start in pain, destruction, and self loathing.

 

[Jay Jade]

If Dawn dies:
Portal still gets closed.
Buffy doesn't need to be resurrected.
Willow doesn't tap into that dark magic and kill Warren.
The First doesn't need to kick Buffys ass for coming back to life.
Countless potentials don't need to die, or even show up for that matter.
Xander doesn't need to loose an eye.
Anya doesn't need to be sliced.
Spike doesn't need to sacrifice himself.
Buffy & Spike forever 😛

I like the way you think here.

And maybe to fill in that empty old spot Dawn left lying around, Faith could come in and spice up things and Eliza Dushku could take Michelle Trachtenberg's spot in the opening credits *plots*

Does anything apply to Tara though? If Tara still gets killed - with your theory - there would be no Kennedy, but someone else would have to take Tara's spot D:

And also, more importantly, there would be no S8 Dander, since Anya would have never had to be killed, but Dawn instead 😀

Though Spuffy wouldn't have been the same as it was before...

 

[Taake]

Ok... so she doesn't start a destructive relationship with Spike... is that the only kind of relationship she's allowed to have with him? I strongly believe that if Dawn sacrificed herself and Spike kept being the same man he was in Intervention and later, also keeping on the track he was going on with character development, they would have started a relationship that DIDN'T start in pain, destruction, and self loathing.

Well you can't deny that s5 Buffy wasn't particularly hot on the idea of Spike being in love with her.

Without her own emotional turmoil I wonder (and have difficult seeing) a way in which they would have written her to get over that and to a place where she would be with him.

But then who knows... had Dawn sacrificed herself perhaps a more 'healthy' Spuffy relationship would have grown out of the remains of it all (sounds more palatable to me than what we got actually... hm, now I feel kind of sour Dawn didn't jump... a lot would have been mightily different)

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I wonder if Buffy would have recovered from that. In case my little sister had killed herself to save the world, and I could have jumped instead, I would never recover from that. I would have stayed alive for my family, so they wouldn't lose two people instead of just one, but I would be dead inside.

Coming back from Heaven and having to deal with that is one thing, but having to live with yourself after something like that? Buffy isn't that kind of person that can just stand there and have let it happen. I think she might even have died soon after, fighting a demon, but "going through the motions" and getting killed.

On the other hand, if she hadn't figured it out, that her death would save Dawn, she would probably have recovered from letting Dawn jump. Assuming Buffy would ever have let Dawn bleed to death. She (or the spell that made her love Dawn, the monk spell) might not have let her die, thus ending the earth anyway.

And I'm not sure if her gift was to save the world, or to save Buffy. I can't recall the Intervention scene that well, but could it be that the First Slayer wanted to give Buffy a gift? She didn't say what she said to save the world, but to save Buffy? Who knows what The First slayer's reasoning was? Did the PTB put her up to that? The First? Twilight? Did she want Buffy to die? Or did she mean something else when she said that death was Buffy's gift?

---------- Post added at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------

Uhm... Did we merge the threads? Confusing.

 

[Hale Caesar]

I wonder if Buffy would have recovered from that. In case my little sister had killed herself to save the world, and I could have jumped instead, I would never recover from that. I would have stayed alive for my family, so they wouldn't lose two people instead of just one, but I would be dead inside.

Coming back from Heaven and having to deal with that is one thing, but having to live with yourself after something like that? Buffy isn't that kind of person that can just stand there and have let it happen. I think she might even have died soon after, fighting a demon, but "going through the motions" and getting killed.

On the other hand, if she hadn't figured it out, that her death would save Dawn, she would probably have recovered from letting Dawn jump. Assuming Buffy would ever have let Dawn bleed to death. She (or the spell that made her love Dawn, the monk spell) might not have let her die, thus ending the earth anyway.

And I'm not sure if her gift was to save the world, or to save Buffy. I can't recall the Intervention scene that well, but could it be that the First Slayer wanted to give Buffy a gift? She didn't say what she said to save the world, but to save Buffy? Who knows what The First slayer's reasoning was? Did the PTB put her up to that? The First? Twilight? Did she want Buffy to die? Or did she mean something else when she said that death was Buffy's gift?

---------- Post added at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------

Uhm... Did we merge the threads? Confusing.

We did merge threads...not sure why

I think Buffy would have gotten over Dawn's death, considering she surrounds herself with such intelligent characters like Giles who would have told her she did the right things, and Buffy is intelligent enough to realize what she did, after all she did kill the man she loves to save the world, Angel, Dawn dying would be no different.

 

[FetalPig]

The first Slayer said to Buffy that death is her gift. But I think it's double meaning.
For starter, her deathy gift is what's GIVEN to her, I suppose, being in heaven for an eternal rest. On another hand, her death is her gift that she GIVES to the world, and Dawn, by dying she's giving a gift of saving the world.

Which one do you think the gift is: the giving of it or her recieving it? Both?

that quote, "Death is your gift", is the finale of an exchange that begins with Buffy doubting her ability to love, during the quest where she hopes to reconnect to her purpose.

FIRST SLAYER: You are full of love. You love with all of your soul. It's brighter than the fire ... blinding. That's why you pull away from it.
BUFFY: (surprised) I'm full of love? I'm not losing it?
FIRST SLAYER: Only if you reject it. Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. Love ... give ... forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift.

i think it is excellent the way this whole Gift thing is written. It is ambiguous and multi-layered. Many people are interpretting it as if the Guide/First Slayer is in a position to see what Buffy will do in the future. And that the Gift is something quite specific in that context. Maybe that's so.

Or maybe it's like The Oracle in the Matrix. Telling Buffy exactly what she needs to hear in any given moment. Basically the guide says that Love will make her stronger and will bring her to her nature. We find out in Season 7 that her nature is something unexpected. Love is pain, pain is strength, if you risk it, love will bring you to your gift. Death is your gift.

If you risk the pain you are afraid of you will be stronger and it will lead you to something else that you are afraid of. Death. And if you risk that then who knows where that might lead ....

Double meaning? At the very least ....

 

[Willow My Love]

I think it was that she saved the world, and she was finished. Not necessarily the gift of heaven and peace, but that she had one final thing to do to save the world, and she'd be finished.

 

[Abby27]

I always took it that when the First Slayer told Buffy that death was her gift, she was really taken back: She fought for good, but it just got painted as her handing out "death" to various villains. So in a sense, her gift to the world was the death she handed out to the baddies. But then when she realized she could sacrifice herself to save the world, she saw it in a new light: she could die for the good of world. Her gift wasn't killing all the demons to save the world, it was sacrificing herself.

Also, best post ever:

You don't even know how much I wanted Dawn to die here.

If you really wanna break it all down, it goes a lil something like this:

If Dawn dies:
Portal still gets closed.
Buffy doesn't need to be resurrected.
Willow doesn't tap into that dark magic and kill Warren.
The First doesn't need to kick Buffys ass for coming back to life.
Countless potentials don't need to die, or even show up for that matter.
Xander doesn't need to loose an eye.
Anya doesn't need to be sliced.
Spike doesn't need to sacrifice himself.
Buffy & Spike forever 😛

Now because she was a brat and didn't jump herself, all those bad things that happened in S6&S7...happened.

 

[prophecygrrl]

I'm so glad that Dawn didn't jump. She was just a child at the time 🙁...and thinking about it, if Dawn had jumped, Buffy would never have forgiven herself. Never. We might've ended up with the clinical depression in Season 6 regardless, IMO.